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^ 17 



" Tlie Retreat troiii 

Pulaski to Naslivllle." 



ulas-^i f© Iy(Z[sr)ville. 

A PAPER 

READ BEFORE THE OHIO COMMANDERY 

OF THE 

MILITARY ORDER 

OF THE 

Loyal Legion of the United States 

DECEIVLBKR 1, 1886. 

BY COMPANION 

IvKVI T. SCOFIKLD, 

Late Captain U. S. Volunteers. 



CINCINN ATI: 

H. C. SHERICK & CO. 
1886. 



IN EXCHANGE 

JAN 5 - !915 






THE 

Retreat from Pulaski to Nashville. 



While Sherman's army was at Cherokee County, Ala., 
General Hood remained at a respectful distance near Flor- 
ence on the Tennessee River. But when our great General 
started with the larger portion of his army for the Atlantic 
coast, Hood believed that the way was left open for him to 
lead his army where he pleased, and it would be an easy 
matter to sweep away anything that would oppose him in 
his triumphal march to Nashville, Louisville, and Cincinnati. 

He little counted on the brains and opposing qualities of 
the two able Generals that were left behind to watch his 
movements — Thomas and Schofield. The two branches of 
Sherman's army parted at Ga3'lesville, Sherman accom- 
panying the larger portion to the sea coast, and sending the 
23d and 4th Army Corps to Resaca and Dalton, where they 
took trains and were transported by rail to Nashville and 
then to Pulaski. This campaign was commenced in the 
beginning of November, 1864. During the second week of 
November we reached Pulaski, This movement was or- 
dered by Thomas, and was under the direct command of 
Schofield. The object was to watch, oppose, and retard 
Hood, while Thomas was scraping together detachments of 
troops in the rear ; also to remount, equip, and place his 
cavalry on a better footing to cope with the same branch of 
Hood's army. We were at the same time waiting for A. J. 
Smith's corps to arrive from the West, and this command, 
together with new organizations, would swell our force to 
an equal or larger number than Hood's, and enable us to 



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THE 

Retreat from Pulaski to Nashville. 



While Sherman's army was at Cherokee County, Ala., 
General Hood remained at a respectful distance near Flor- 
ence on the Tennessee River. But when our great General 
started with the larger portion of his army for the Atlantic 
coast, Hood believed that the way was left open for him to 
lead his army where he pleased, and it would be an easy 
matter to sweep away anything that would oppose him in 
his triumphal march to Nashville, Louisville, and Cincinnati. 

He little counted on the brains and opposing qualities of 
the two able Generals that were left behind to watch his 
movements — Thomas and Schofield. The two branches of 
Sherman's army parted at Gaylesville, Sherman accom- 
panying the larger portion to the sea coast, and sending the 
23d and 4th Army Corps to Resaca and Dalton, where they 
took trains and were transported by rail to Nashville and 
then to Pulaski. This campaign was commenced in the 
beginning of November, 1864. During the second week of 
November we reached Pulaski. This movement was or- 
dered by Thomas, and was under the direct command of 
Schofield. The object was to watch, oppose, and retard 
Hood, while Thomas was scraping together detachments of 
troops in the rear ; also to remount, equip, and place his 
cavalry on a better footing to cope with the same branch of 
Hood's army. We were at the same time waiting for A. J. 
Smith's corps to arrive from the West, and this command, 
together with new organizations, would swell our force to 
an equal or larger number than Hood's, and enable us to 



— 4 — 

face him, or even overcome him. Hood, however, was not 
inclined to wait for our preparations, and was ordered by 
Beauregard, who was his superior in command, to push 
forward from Florence, which he did on the 20th of Novem- 
ber, expecting to flank Schofield at Lawrenceburg and cut 
off his retreat by rail from Pulaski. Capron's, Croxton's, 
and Hatch's cavalry were covering his front and on the 
lookout, and sent word to Schofield, who immediately pre- 
pared to fall back to Columbia, as he was not occupying a 
strategic point. We left our camps and started on the 
Columbia Pike on the 22d, and marched to Lynnville, where 
we were joined by Wagner's Division, 4th Corps. On the 
afternoon of the 23d we marched to the junction of the Mt. 
Pleasant and Shelby ville roads. Before daylight of the 24th 
we were ordered to march to Columbia, and arrived there 
just after sunrise. We were met, south of the town, by an 
officer of Ruger's staff', who informed us that Capron's cav- 
alry were pouring into the town, and the Confederates were 
not far behind them. General Cox took in the situation at 
once, and with the instinct of an engineer, knowing the lay 
of the ground, he decided not to enter the town, but the 
head of the column then coming up was double-quicked by 
a diagonal short cut around the town, and arrived on the 
Mt. Pleasant Pike just in the nick of time to meet the tail 
end of Capron's fagged out cavalrymen, closely pursued by 
Forrest's exultant troopers. A captain on a splendid black 
charger was in the advance, shooting our men in the back 
of their heads with his revolver. He was dropped from his 
saddle by the first infantry man that crossed the road. The 
plucky looth Ohio was, in one short minute, deployed as 
skirmishers and advanced rapidly to meet them ; but, as usual 
when cavalry meet an infantry line, they stopped. General 
Cox's Division was soon in position, and before noon Gen- 
eral Stanley, with the 4th Corps, approached Columbia by a 
parallel road, and with the addition of Strickland's Brigade, 
Ruger's Division 23d Corps, and reinforcements of cavalry- 
men, who met us here, we were in better shape, as to 



— 5 — 

numbers, than we were at Pulaski. Our sta\ at first in this 
position was rather monotonous, with nothing but cavalry 
in our front, and an occasional skirmish to liven us up. 
When Hood's head of column arrived, we had a little more 
excitement with artillery practice ; but they evidently did 
not like the looks of our position, for they made no demon- 
strations leading to an assault, but kept our cavalr}! on the 
flanks uneasy, as though they contemplated flanking us out 
of our position. 

Schofield was anxious to preserve the railroad and wagon 
road bridges across Duck River, which he could only do 
by remaining on the town side ; but he knew, too, that the 
importance would matter little if Hood should cross the river 
and get between him and Nashville ; so, at the end of two 
days, after dark, Cox's Division was crossed over to the 
north side of the river, and works thrown up for the bat- 
teries to protect the bridge crossings. Two days later the 
balance of our troops were brought over, and to prevent the 
enemy using the bridges they were destroyed ; but that did 
not prevent some of the venturesome crossing right in our 
teeth, and our pickets had considerable trouble from the 
enemy's skirmishers. Their annoyance was so great that 
General Cox determined to drive them into the river, and 
sent word to his inspecting officer that the troops should 
charge them with the bayonet, and demonstrate right there 
whether the iron candlesticks they were carrying around 
with them could be turned to any other use as implements 
of war, or not. The attempt failed, because the men were 
too well covered by the skirmishers on the opposite bank. 

On the morning of the 29th we learned that Hood was 
crossing some of his troops a few miles above Columbia. 
General Stanley moved in the forenoon with a part of the 
4th Corps to guard the wagon trains then on the way to 
Spring Hill, and reached that place at noon. They were 
just in time, and Wagner's Division deployed at double- 
quick, Bradley on the right, Lane next, and Opdycke on 
the left, and pushed forward through the eastern suburbs of 



— 6 — 

the town against Forrest's cavalry, which command had 
been repulsed by Wilson at Mt. Carmel, five miles east of 
the Franklin Pike, and had turned over to Spring Hill by 
the Murfreesboro road to obstruct our trains. They were 
driven back to the woods by our infantry, and moved under 
cover to Thompson's Station, two or three miles toward 
Franklin, and a small body of them reached the pike be- 
tween Spring Hill and Columbia, but were easily driven 
back by the wagon guard and artillery. 

Colonel Lyman Bridges, Chief of Artillery of the 4th 
Corps, had charge of and posted the batteries on the left of 
the pike, and Major W. F. Goodspeed, Assistant Chief of 
Artillery, had charge of the batteries on the right which 
were handled so admirably against the assaulting lines of 
Cheatham's corps. There was some light skirmishing until 
the middle of the afternoon, when the head of Hood's 
column arrived, with Cheatham's corps of nine brigades in 
the lead. Hood was aware that Schofield was still at 
Columbia, with a portion of his command, and he ordered 
Cheatham to march in line against anything he should meet, 
and drive them across the pike. Cheatham did push for- 
ward, and struck the right of our line, forcing Bradley's 
Brigade back in confusion almost to the pike, Bradley being 
wounded in the assault. The loss was about 250 men. The 
other two brigades were not much engaged. This attack 
was followed up vigorously until they struck a slight line of 
fortifications, occupied by a single battery and a small reg- 
iment of infantry. The battery was commanded by the 
gallant Aleck Marshall, and the regiment by Colonel Harry 
Pickands, as plucky a fellow as ever had command of men ; 
it was what was left of the 103d Ohio. They had been so 
cut up and reduced in numbers during the Atlanta cam- 
paign that they were detailed as General Schofield's Head- 
quarters Guard, and were the first troops to reach Spring 
Hill, arriving there with the train between ten and eleven 
o'clock in the morning. General Fullerton, of Stanley's 
staff, saw them there when he arrived, and ordered them in 



— 7 — 

line to support the battery. As Stanley's report does not 
mention their presence even, it would seem proper to here 
note the part they took in the engagement. Bradley's men, 
as they fell back, rushed by them on either side, but they 
remained to support the battery. The officers had broken 
open boxes of ammunition and built a little parapet of cart- 
ridges in front of the men, from which they loaded ; and a 
rapid, withering fire was poured into the advancing lines, 
doing terrible execution at this short range. The guns also 
were handled by Lieutenant Brills with wonderful rapidity. 
This furious driving storm of lead and iron had never been 
surpassed and rarely equaled by the same quality and num- 
ber of arms. Cheatham's troops, encountering at this point 
such fierce opposition, and believing they had struck our 
main line of fortifications, halted, fell back, and commenced 
building a line of earthworks. Of course it is not probable, 
nor is it claimed that a small regiment of infantry, no matter 
with how much bravery they fought, could, under the same 
circumstances, hold in check a line that a well tried and 
splendid brigade had retreated from ; but the situation here 
was such that the rebel General commanding was deceived as 
to the force confronted. At the same time, the little band 
is entitled to the credit ot staying where it was put. If the 
men of the 103d had fallen back with the brigade, Cleburne 
would have crossed the pike. Brown would have followed 
him, we would have lost possession of the road, our army 
would have been cut in two, and the result might have been 
different. 

The officers of the 103d tried to check the fleeing troops, 
and taunted their officers with the bad example they were 
showing their men. Captain Charlie Sargeant grabbed one 
officer who was tearing past him, who shouted " For God's 
sake, don't stop me ! I'm a chaplain !" Additional troops 
coming up, pushed out some to feel Wagner's left flank, but 
made no further attempt to carry our position. 

Darkness was now approaching, and Stewart's corps of 
four divisions arrived, and together with Cheatham's com- 
mand went into bivouac for the night. 



About this time General Cox's Division, which had been 
under a heavy artillery fire all day from Hood's guns sta- 
tioned in and near Columbia, started for Spring Hill, leaving 
Wood and Kimball, who had been ordered to follow soon 
after. This night march was a very rapid one, and with 
the exception of a halt at Rutherlord Creek to help out some 
artillery and teams that were there clogged, the distance to 
Spring Hill, about twelve miles, was made at the rate of 
four miles an hour. The rear guards were ordered posi 
tively to use the bayonet on fence-corner stragglers, and the 
orders were in several instances obeyed. When the General 
and staff' reached Spring Hill, we were stopped on the road 
by Colonel George Northrup, of a Kentucky regiment of 
infantry. He cautioned us, hist — with his finger to his lips — 
not too speak above a whisper, and pointed to the camp 
fires within sight of the road. We could plainly see that 
soldiers standing there were Johnnies, and in the quiet of 
the night could hear their voices. An officer was left to 
repeat the caution to the advancing column. 

A little further along on the road we found General Stan- 
ley at his headquarters, from whom we learned the whole 
situation. We waited for General Schofield to come back 
from Thompson's Station, where he had gone with one of 
Ruger's brigades, on a report that the enemy had reached 
the road there. Orders were again given at midnight to 
march immediately to Franklin, and General Cox's Division 
to lead the advance. Keeping up the long steady stride of 
four miles an hour, in the clear starlight, without meeting 
a soul on the road, we reached Franklin about three o'clock 
in the morning, awoke Colonel Carter, and made head- 
quarters at his little brick cottage, the last house in the 
southern suburbs of the town, on the Columbia Pike. 

While sitting out in front of the house, waiting for the 
head of column to arrive, everything was as still as the 
grave, and there was time to ponder on what the following 
day would bring forth. Very few, perhaps, anticipated the 
dreadful and bloody outcome, but rather looked for another 



— 9 — 

flank movement, as at Columbia. Presently the tramp of 
horses in the distance, and the rattle of tin cups against 
bayonets, told us that the troops were coming. They were 
marching by the left flank, and the 3d Division of the 23d 
Corps was led into position in that order on the east side of 
the pike; Stiles, commanding Henderson's Brigade, first. 
Casement next, and Reilly last, all facing to the south. 
General Cox was placed in command of the two Divisions, 
his own and Ruger's, and was instructed, as soon as the 
troops could get a short breathing spell, to strongly intrench 
themselves. It was considered necessary by General Scho- 
field to make our stand on the south side of the town and 
river, so that the artillery and trains could mass in the streets 
of the village, while a wagon road bridge was being built, 
and planks put on the railroad bridge for their transfer 
across. General Schofield had, the previous day, sent an 
urgent request to Thomas to ship a pontoon bridge to Frank- 
lin for the Harpeth Crossing, and expected to find it there, 
but in this was disappointed. In this embarrassing situa- 
tion there was nothing to do but construct the bridges with 
the meager facilities at hand ; so, with his engineer battalion 
and details of troops, the work was performed, requiring his 
constant personal attention. He remained in this position 
during the engagement, so as to better superintend the 
crossing, and at the same time be near the railroad and tel- 
egraph station ; while from Fort Granger, immediately 
above on the bluff", he had perfect command of the entire 
battle-field, and could direct the fire of the artillery stationed 
there with him. During the forenoon the troops kept pour- 
ing in, accompanied by artillery and wagon trains. Wood's 
Division of the 4th Corps took up position on the north bank 
of the Harpeth; Kimball's Division of the same corps was 
ordered to report to General Cox, and was by him placed 
in fine on the right of the 23d Corps with its right flank 
resting on the Harpeth River. Two brigades of Wagner's 
Division 4th Corps (Lane's and Conrad's) were counter- 
marched, and placed something over a hundred rods in our 



— lO — 

front, across the Columbia Pike, to watch the approach of 
the enemy, and to their right and front, on a Httle knoll, a 
section of Marshall's battery, supported by an infantry reg- 
iment. Opdycke's brigade of the same Division, which had 
been acting as rear guard from Spring Hill, passed through 
our line, and took up position in reserve behind Carter's 
Hill. The two regiments of Reilly's brigade that were left 
back in the skirmish line at Duck River, arrived and formed 
the second line behind the main works. The batteries of 
the 4th Corps were placed in our main line. They were 
ordered to report to General Cox, to take the place of the 
23d Corps Artillery that had been posted on the north side 
of the river, as it was the first on the ground, and it was the 
intention, at that hour, to have all the artillery pass over as 
it arrived. By the middle of the afternoon our trains were 
nearly all across the river, and it was intended the troops 
should follow by dark, and accompany them during the 
night towards Nashville. But it seemed that General Hood 
had another programme marked out for us. When his 
sleepy army awoke at Spring Hill, and he found how nicely 
Schofield's command had passed him during the night, and 
an examination by daylight showed how easily he could 
have cut us in two at any time during the night, or headed 
us off entirely the previous afternoon, if he had known our 
exact situation, he was so chagrined that he cursed every- 
body, high and low, censured Cheatham, Cleburne, and the 
entire force that were present for not taking possession of 
the road ; and made his whole army understand that they 
must make up for that blunder at the next opportunity, and 
that the time must be soon. So he pushed on m pursuit, 
their cavalry occasionally -attacking our trains, and burning 
a wagon or two, until they came up with our rear guard, 
about noon, at Winstead Hills. Stewart's corps moved on 
to the right, towards Lewisburg Pike, turning Opdycke's 
flank, when he fell slowly back to the town. General 
Cheatham, with his corps, moved by the Columbia Pike, and 
formed in line north of Winstead Hills. From our position 



II 



the officers and horses could be plainly seen on this range 
of hills, a little more than two miles away, as though study- 
ing our position. Bate's Division marched over to Carter's 
Creek Pike and formed behind the Bostwick house. Stew- 
art's corps moved over to the McGavock house, where the 
first skirmish firing was heard in the grove ; it was by 
Reilly's men, who had gone there for logs to put on the 
earthworks. Firing now commenced over on the right, 
where Bate was forming, and the guns stationed on the pike 
poured in volley after volley with great rapidity. General 
Cox rode over to Stiles' Brigade, which was on higher 
ground, and, from the parapet, with his field glass watched 
the advancing lines until they ran over Wagner's men. He 
then mounted his horse and pushed for the center, where he 
arrived just in time to go forward with Opdycke when the 
break commenced. The suspense now was growing, for 
we knew there was to be a battle ; but, oh ! what a comfort 
to know that we, who in the Georgia campaign had to do 
most of the bucking against fortifications, were on the right 
side of the works, and in such a splendid position, with a 
gentle slope away from us, and not even a mullen stock to 
obstruct our fire for a good third of a mile. Our men felt 
that now was their time for wiping out many an old score. 
General Cox's engineer officer, the writer, was standing on 
the parapet of the looth Ohio Regiment, the first one on the 
left of the Columbia Pike, urging the men to strengthen 
their works, and talking with General Wagner at this time. 
The General was reclining on his elbow, with a staff or 
crutch in his hand ; he had fallen with his horse and was 
lame. They remarked that the musketry firing was becom- 
ing more rapid, also from the two guns in front. By and 
by a staff officer rode fast from one of the brigades and re- 
ported to Wagner, excitedly, "The enemy are forming in 
heavy columns, we can see them distinctly in the open tim- 
ber and all along our front." Wagner said, firmly, " Stand 
there and fight them," and then, turning to the engineer 
officer, said, " And that stubbed, curly-headed Dutchman 



— 12 — 

ft . ^ 

will fight them, too," meaning one of his brigade com- 
manders. " But, General," the officer said, " the orders 
are not to stand, except against cavalry and skirmishers, 
but to fall back behind the main line, if a general engage- 
ment is threatened." In a short time another officer rode 
in from the right in great haste, and told him the rebels were 
advancing in heavy force. He received the same order. 
The officer added, "But Hood's entire army is coming." 
Then Wagner struck the ground with his stick, and said, 
" Never mind, fight them." But even after this, they had 
time to come back in good order if they had been allowed 
to. Soon we heard the rebel yell and heavy firing. The 
artillery section had fixed prolonge and fired as they fell back 
to the advanced rifle pits, leaving their dead, but bringing 
in their wounded. The horses then brought the guns in on 
an easy trot. As they turned in around the" short earthwork 
covering the gap across the pike, Aleck Clinton, one of the 
gunners, jumped oft' the limber, his face black with powder 
smoke, and said, with a grim smile, "Old Hell is let loose, 
and coming out there." In a short time we could see a 
commotion in our advanced brigades, but only an oc- 
casional dropping back, and soon we noticed the right of 
Stewart's command wrapped around Conrad's left, and then 
our men rose up and the break commenced. The right ol 
Cheatham's corps came sweeping over the little rise of 
ground on which the low ramparts were built, in what ap- 
peared a solid human wave. And such a racket ! Their 
shouting seemed to show such confidence as men would have 
who had been led to believe that the line they were assault- 
ing was a weak one. It was a grand sight. Such as would 
make a lifelong impression on the mind of any man to see 
such a charge. As forerunners, well in advance, could be 
seen a line of jack rabbits, bounding along for a few leaps, 
and then they would stop, and look, and listen, but scam- 
per oft' again as though convinced that this was the most 
impenetrable line of beaters-in that had ever given them 
chase ; and quails by the thousand, in coveys here and 



— 13 — 

there, would rise and settle, and rise and turn again to the 
sunlight that called them back ; but no, they were fright- 
ened by the unusual turmoil, and back they came, and this 
repeated until finally they rose high in air and flew oft' to 
the gray sky-light of the north. The day had been bright 
and warm, the afternoon sun was setting on the distant hills, 
and in the hazy yellow light, and with their yellowish-brown 
uniforms, those in the front ranks seemed to be magnified 
in size ; one could almost imagine them to be phantoms, 
sweeping along in the air. On they came, and in the cen- 
ter their lines seemed to be many deep and unbroken, their 
red, tattered flags, as numerous as though every company 
bore them, flaring in the sun's rays, with conspicuous groups 
of general and staff" officers in their midst, and a battery or 
two in splendid Hne charging along between the Divisions. 
In front of them were our men bent almost to the ground, 
with their heads turned to see if the enemy were gaining 
ground. It was every man for himself, and the devil take 
the last man over the works ; but here and there a brave fel- 
low would hesitate as if he would like to face and fight 
them. On the right of Walthall's, and the left of Loring's 
Divisions, there were occasional breaks made by our infan- 
try and the terrific volleys from the batteries on the opposite 
bank of the river ; also from Marshall's and Canby's Bat- 
tery M, 4th Regular Artillery, who poured canister into 
the enemy that were swarming through the railroad cut ; 
but officers on horseback and afoot were at every gap, try- 
ing to close them up, so that on the left, Stewart's living 
sea, with raging surf, in wave following wave, broke and 
fell, and plunged onward o'er the sloping beach in our front. 
Still the great seething mass came rolling on to our center, 
and we could not open with artillery or infantry fire until 
our men were safely over. Oh, what a mistake the brave 
Wagner made ! Through the gap at last, and over the 
works they came, with Cleburne and Brown hot after them. 
Wagner by this time was on his horsq, riding backwards, 
and facing the disorganized brigades, trying as hard as ever 



— 14 — 

man did, to rally them. With terrible oaths he called them 
cowards, and shook his broken stick at them ; but back they 
went to the town, and nothing could stop them. A ser- 
geant, all made up of true metal, and with flashing eye, 
turned, and brought his gun down on the ground and said, 
"Hold on, boys, I don't go back another step." About 
twenty stopped with him, and went into our reserve line; 
perhaps others stopped, but the great mass went through the 
town and crossed the riveij. Wagner was a great fighter ; 
it is said that bullets rattled out of his clothes for a month 
after the battle of Stone River, and his Division was as 
good as any other, but they had been pressed too close, and 
for some reason they thought the whole line would break. 
Their officers tried hard to check them, but their organiza- 
tion was broken in their scramble back from the front. It 
was not the fault of the men, but of their rash General. Poor 
Wagner is now dead ; his soul is in Heaven with the heroes, 
and let us draw over this one error the mantle of charity, 
and cherish the memory of his personal valor and dauntless 
courage on the hard fought battle-fields of the West. 

If our men, in this part of the line, could have had time 
to fire two or three volleys, they would have regained the 
nerve that they lost during this awful suspense, and held the 
line without a waver. But Cheatham's whole corps was 
right on top of these few regiments before they could fire a 
shot, and some of them were forced back a short distance 
from the line on either side of the pike. Now was the great 
opportunity for the brave Colonels Opdycke and White, and 
the battery commander, Charley Scoville. Opdycke in 
command of Wagner's reserve brigade, and White in com- 
mand of Reilly's second line, had been cautioned by Gen- 
eral Cox, before riding over to Stiles' brigade, to look out 
for a break at this point, and when it did come they were 
ready. White's troops were made up of those daring 
earnest men from the mountains of East Tennessee, and 
Kentuckians trom thje northeastern part of the State, where 
they were so thoroughly loyal that they kept on shooting 



— 15 — 

rebels after the war was over. They did not wait for an 
order, but sprang over their low riflepits like tigers, and 
with a shrill shout that was heard even above the rebel yell, 
and a heroism rarely equaled by men, went pell-mell into 
the mass of Confederates that had taken our line and did not 
know what to do with it. At the same time Charley Sco- 
ville cracked his blacksnake whip around the ears of his 
artillery men, and drove them back to the guns. At it they 
went, with pickaxes and shovels, slashing all around them 
with the ferocity of demons. For a few minutes it was a 
fierce hand to hand combat, and it was right in those few 
minutes that the fate of one or the other of the armies was to 
be decided. For a little time it looked decidedly against 
us, but the desperate determination of our men, who were 
rallying to regain the line, had its effect, and a change be- 
gan to show itself. Just at this time, Opdycke's Brigade 
was filing up the pike, left in front, and crossing diagonally, 
so as to uncover the buildings in Carter's yard, preparatory 
to charging the broken line in Strickland's front. They 
were pointed directly towards the place where White was 
engaged, and the Confederates took it for a heavy rein- 
forcement of that part of the line. One by one they seemed 
shaken, feeling that they were to be overpowered ; and, not 
wishing to place themselves in front of our line again, they 
threw down their arms and rushed to the rear, prisoners 
without a guard. When Opdycke's men faced to the front 
to charge the line, it was a more serious undertaking, as a 
larger number of men had broken over the works at this 
point and had obtained a firmer footing. But there was 
nothing too alarming for Opdycke's bravery, and he urged 
his men forward, placing himself where he could prevent 
stragglers from dropping out. He broke his revolver over 
men's heads,and then seized a gun, and whoever looked back 
within his reach was jobbed under the blouse. So he rushed 
them on and forced Brown's men from the outbuildings in 
Carter's yard. Strickland's men, rallying, counter-charged 
and joined him, and soon the ground was in our possession 



— i6 — 

again, and a second line established. General Cox re- 
mained mounted during the entire engagement, so as to 
carefully watch the whole line ; and while the confusion was 
greatest, during the break, he was in their midst, displaying 
heroic bravery with hopeful look and waving sword, rally- 
ing the men. General Stanley was also there, showing 
great gallantry in encouraging the troops, but was wounded 
before he had been on the field ten minutes, and retired. 
Every charge ordered by Hood or any of his Generals after 
that first dreadful avalanche crumbled and broke, was fool- 
hardy and reckless. After our line was fully re-established 
it was as steady as a granite wall ; it was next to impossible 
to break it, and the enemy could only get over it as prison- 
ers or by being killed in the attempt. The brave soldiers 
of the South felt it, too, for their after-charges were made 
against this furious storm with their heads bent, their hats 
pulled down, and their arms shielding from their sight the 
almost certain death that awaited them. 

It was the writer's pleasure about a year since, while on 
a pilgrimage to the old battle-fields, to meet at Nashville the 
late General Cheatham, a very comfortable man to meet, 
with a make-up about equally divided between a well-to-do 
Southern farmer and a Prussian field-marshal. He greeted 
me most cordially ,clasping me in his arms, and said : "Well, 
I heard you were here, and I've been looking all over for 
you ; welcome to Tennessee. Any man who was in the 
battle of Franklin, no matter which side, is my friend." 
Then we had a good chat about old times. Referring to the 
two brigades out in front, "Ah," he said, " if it hadn't been 
for the mistake your side made there, you would have killed 
every man in our army, and God knows you killed enough 
of them." It is undoubtedly a fact that if the brigades had 
been called in at the right time, no part of our line would 
have been broken ; and if all of the brigades had heeded the 
precaution to place headlogs on their works, and abatised 
their front, as Casement's did, the losses all along the line 
would have been as light as his, which was comparatively 



— 17 — 

insignificant. The officers of Casement's Brigade had their 
men take timbers from the cotton-gin house at the right of 
his line ; also cut trees from the grove, and carried the logs 
in to be placed on the lop of the parapet. They rested on 
cross-ties hollowed out to receive them, leaving a three-inch 
space through which to fire. 

Henderson's Brigade, on our extreme left, reached to the 
railroad track, and the works were built in the grounds of a 
large mansion which were bordered by a splendid osage- 
orange hedge. The line was located about fifty feet from 
this hedge, so that by cutting oft' the trees about four feet 
from the ground, it left an impenetrable obstruction, and at 
the same time open enough to fire through. The tops w^ere 
scattered along in front of Casement's Brigade, making one 
of the most deceptive rows of abatis ever formed ; it was 
light, but an occasional stake held it in place. Walthall's 
men stopped when they reached it; they were bewildered ; 
they couldn't get over it. They undertook to pull it away, 
but the sharp thorns pierced their hands, and they gave that 
up ; then right in the smoke of our guns they faced to the 
right, and filed through a gap made by a wild charging 
horse. All this time death was pouring out in sheets of 
flame and lead from the three-inch gap under the headlog. 
Two companies of the 65th Indiana had repeating rifles, and 
at that short range their execution must have been terrible. 

Captain Baldwin's battery was stationed at this point, (/j)* 
where the dead were piled up like snow-drifts in winter 
time, and here it was that the obstructions caused them to 
mass so many deep. The brave captain quickly took advan- 
tage of the situation, and to mow down this dense forest of 
humanity he loaded his guns to the muzzle with triple 
rounds of canister and dummies, or stockings filled with 
bullets. To use the captain's words, " At every discharge 
of my guns there were two sounds — first the explosion and 
then the bones." It was the same battery that was saved 

* Corresponding numbers on map mark places described. 



— 18 — 

while marching out of Spring Hill by the coolness of one 
of the non-commissioned officers. Orders had been given 
to try to push through on the Franklin Pike, with instruc- 
tions to abandon and destroy the guns, and try to save 
themselves and horses by breaking oft' into the fields on the 
left if attacked and hard pressed. They were halted by a 
rebel picket reserve, posted a short distance from the road, 
and the demand came in the darkness, " What battery is 
youns? " The commander was about to reply by unlimber- 
ing and turning his guns upon them, when the quick 
thought struck one of his corporals to sa}^ in a careless 
voice, " loth Alabama. What reegiment is youns?" "14th 
Mississippi," was the reply, and, apparently satisfied, set- 
tled down in the fence corner to sleep. They pushed on, 
and were not again molested until nearly morning, when 
they were attacked by Hood's cavalry. " Battery to the 
left flank ; fire to the rear," was the Captain's prompt order. 
A half-dozen rounds of twelve-pound solid shot scattered 
the cavalrv and saved the train of two army corps. 

After dark, when it was safe to look over the works, it 
was a ghastly sight to see the dead. All along in front of 
Casement's men, the bodies reminded one of a rail fence 
toppled over and crossed many deep, or as if grim Death 
had built a new abatis of thickly tangled, short, heavy 
boughs. The ditch at Fort Saunders, Knoxville, just one 
year before, where the pick of Longstreet's army lay writh- 
ing as thick as the sea-lions on the Clift' Rocks near the 
Golden Gate, was bad enough to look at, but this was hor- 
rible. (/) Here is where General John Adams, leading his 
brigade, plunged through the abatis, cleared the ditch, and 
fell, with his horse across the crest and head log. He was 
gently handled, and placed on the ground inside the line. 
{2) This is where Jack Casement stood when he made his 
great speech. He sprang upon the works and turned to 
his troops, and, with a voice that every one could hear, 

said: "Men, do you see those damn rebel 

(you all know the other three words) coming?" Then a 



— 19 — 

shout went up. " Well, I want you to stand here like 
rocks, and whip hell out of them." He then faced about 
and fired with his revolvers until they were empty, and 
jumped down with the men. The oratory may not have 
been as elegant as though studied for the occasion, but 
Caesar to his Romans, nor Hannibal to his Carthagenians, 
ever made speeches thrilling their armies with more effect. 
It was what they understood and appreciated, and what 
they did afterward showed how well they heeded it. Not 
one man left the line, and Colonel Jack's example had 
something to do with it, you bet. 

Just at this time, when the Confederate line was close to 
our works, and our men were concealed by the head logs, 
Jim Coughlan, a lieutenant of the 24th Kentucky, and 
General Cox's favorite aid, mounted his black horse, and, 
swinging his cavalry sabre over his head, charged back 
and forth along the whole line, cheering the men, and ihey 
all turned and gave him a cheer, for every man knew the 
gallant officer. He is the one who, on the white horse, led 
every charge (no matter whose command) across the field 
on the first day at Resaca ; and all through the Atlanta 
campaign just such brilliant achievements on his part 
were noticed. It was not his dashing gallantry alone that 
made him such a favorite, but his military genius was of 
the highest order, and he was ever ready and anxious for 
duty, no matter what the weather or hour of night. If 
there was a spice of danger in it, he was better suited. 
Often, to avoid the dullness of camp life, he has begged to 
accompany me on topographical trips, when it was neces- 
sary to get information about the country ahead of us. He 
was always of the greatest assistance to me ; but what 
risks he would take I It was my custom to approach a log 
hut or rail pile on the road cautiously, and expose as little 
of myself and horse as possible ; but he would gallop on 
ahead in the middle of the road, singing or whistling with 
the greatest glee, and there had to be more than two rebel 
cavalry men standing in the road to keep him from charg- 



20 



ing. When he mounted his horse there at Franklin, the 
staff officers remarked to each other that he would surely 
be killed. It was late at night when we found him near the 
cotton-gin, where the hand-to-hand fighting was the 
fiercest. We lifted his cape from his pale face, and the 
stars looked down with us and wept. 

The ride to Nashville was lonely to me, and I expected, 
after three days and two nights without sleep, when we 
spread our blankets on the floor of a small house outside the 
lines, that slumber would come quickly ; but it was not so 
with me. The one who had shared the blankets with me 
for nearly a year was back at the Harpeth River, near the 
bridire head, with two feet of earth over him. This brave 
officer could only see one thing in martial glory, and that 
was to die in battle. His mind had been usually bright 
and happy, but gloomy spells were coming oftener as the 
dread disease of epilepsy increased and blighted his future. 
The nights were more frequent when, after his recovery from 
one of these spasms, I rolled him back in bed. There was no 
suffering, and he had no recollection in the morning of what 
had occurred ; but once in a while a depressed feeling would 
prompt him to ask me if he had been unwell in the night, 
and I would satisfy him with a cheering word. We who 
knew him, when we saw him dead, believed that what he 
most dearly wished had come. Dying like a hero in one- 
of the greatest battles of the world's history, before his 
mind became clouded and his system broken with bad 
health, was to him well worth praying for. 

(j) During one of the charges that were made on this part 
of the line, an incident occurred at this battery which is 
worth relating. A slight boy of not more than fifteen 
years, with drum on his back, belonging to one of the 
Missouri regiments, foolishly attempted to force his way 
through one of the embrasures and thrust a fence rail into 
the mouth of a cannon, thinking, b}^ his brave act, to stop 
the use of that gun. The gun was loaded at the time, was 
fired, and nothing was ever found of the drummer boy. 



21 



After our return from Nashville we again put up at the 
Carter house, where we found a young man nursing two 
companions. After breakfast he accompanied me out in 
front of the works, and pointed out where his regiment was 
buried. There were only three of his company left— two 
wounded and he alone unhurt. All the other companies 
suffered about the same. This little locust grove was a 
sight to see after the battle. The trees stood in a swampy 
swale, were from two to five inches in diameter, and very 
close together. They were in front of Opdycke's and 
Strickland's brigades, where more charges were made than 
on any other part of the line. 

The firing here from both sides was terrific. Many of the 
largest trees were cut entirely of^' by bullets ; all that were 
standing and all the stumps had each hundreds of bullet 
marks. Some were cut in shreds from bottom to top, and 
had the appearance, as much as anything, of broken hemp 
stocks. The slopes beyond our whole front resembled 
fields recently raked or harrowed. The Carter cottage at 
tliis point is the first place visited by Southern tourists. 
The dwelling, which is of brick, looks on the south end as 
if it had been marked with small-pox, and all the surround- 
ing outbuildings have bullet marks in almost every square 
inch. Colonel Carter, with members of his family and 
neighbors, remained in the cellar during the whole of the 
fearful carnage. After the battle was over, and our men 
had left, the sisters took a lantern and went out in the rear 
of their house, hoping to be of some service to the 
wounded, and among the first was their own dear young 
brother, between the locust grove and the abatis, mortally 
wounded. 

A large proportion of Cheatham's command were raised 
in this part of Tennessee, which accounts, to a great extent, 
without doubt, for their determination and bravery in trying 
to drive the invaders from their homes. 

{4) This is the spot where General Pat Cleburne, the raw- 
boned Irish General from Arkansas, one of the greatest 



— 22 

fighters of the Confederate army, fell, with his iron-gray 
stallion, in a perfect cyclone of leaden hail. (5) General 
Gist was killed here, trying to hold Strickland's line, 
{6) and General Gordon was captured here near the Carter 
house ; (7) Strahl was killed here, and (8) Carter mortally 
wounded. Brown, the division commander, was wounded. 
What record will compare with that? The division com- 
mander wounded, three of the brigade commanders killed, 
and the fourth captured. After the battle it was found that 
in some parts of Brown's line the dead were lying seven 
deep. And regimental and company officers were found 
supported, stiff and erect, against this barricade of dead, 
with their ghastly eyes wide open and their chins dropped 
down, as though looking in horror at the enemy that had done 
all this, (p) General Managault fell, severely wounded, in 
front of Moore's brigade. The loss of general officers in 
Stewart's corps was also large, but not so fatal, (/o) Gene- 
ral Cockerell, brigade commander in French's division, fell 
with two severe wounds. (//) General Quarles' command, 
of Walthall's division, suffered heavily ; he himself was 
terribly wounded, his staff officers were all killed. The 
regimental field officers were all killed or wounded, so that 
the ranking officer of the brigade who led them off was 
onl}^ a captain. {12) General Scott, brigade commander 
in Loring's division, was wounded by a shell during the 
first charge, (/j) General Granberry, of Cleburne's divi- 
sion, was killed on the pike in one of the desperate charges 
that were made to carry the center. This terrible loss of 
general officers is probabl}^ the greatest known in so short 
a battle. The loss of field and company officers was also 
surprisingly large. In some of the regiments of French's 
line there were no commissioned officers ready for duty, 
all being either killed, wounded, or captured. Many of 
the field and line officers gave themselves up and came over 
our lines, the most of them reporting to General Cox, and 
their stories were gloomy in the extreme. They said that 
the organization of the whole army was broken ; that there 



— 23 — 

was hardly a company officer that knew where his men 
were. Some of them were in the battle before Atlanta on 
the 22d of July (the day McPherson was killed), and they 
thought that was a warm reception, but it was nothing com- 
pared to this ; and they added, " What is the use in fight- 
ing any more? Haven't we had enough of it?" 

{14) Right here is where Clarkie died. You of the 7th 
Ohio need no other name to understand whom I mean. But 
some of the others will know him better as Merwin Clark, 
who went out in the very beginning of the war as orderly 
sergeant of DeVillier's zouaves. He was the light, deli- 
cate boy of seventeen who was so brilliant in the bayonet 
exercise. He was the idol of the old 7th. He had the 
lovely character of a gentle girl and the lion heart of a 
hero combined. While captain in the 7th, he was pro- 
moted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of one of the new Ohio 
regiments, and was here with it in command. They were 
mostly young boys, and this was their first baptism in fire. 
When the solid lines of Brown's division rushed against 
them, they broke, and Colonel Clark seized the colors from 
the bearer, and rushed to the crest of the works ; then 
turned to his men, and begged them to come back. But 
when they did at last come back they found poor Clarkie 
dead. He fell in the arms of Colonel Hollinger, of the 91st 
Indiana. 

They captured some of our colors, but we got a great 
many more of theirs. My recollection now is that twenty 
odd stands were taken in front of Reilly's brigade, and 
that Lieutenant Brown, of Reilly's staff, captured eight of 
them, and carried them in person to Washington. About 
half-past ten o'clock at night a staff officer from head- 
quarters rode over to our line, and told General Cox that 
General Schofield had received a dispatch from Thomas to 
immediately fall back on Nashville. General Cox then 
related to the staff officer the true condition of affairs in 
our front, and told him the reports we had received from 
the prisoners of the terribly cut-up condition of their whole 



— 24 — 

army, stating that, under the circumstances, it would be a 
mistake to retreat, and begging him go back to the General, 
and see if Thomas could not be prevailed upon to counter- 
mand his orders, to send on in the night fresli supplies of 
ammunition, and, if possible, A. J. Smith's command. 
He also sent his brother. Colonel Theodore Cox, with the 
message that he would answer for holding the lines with 
his head, and that we ought to assume the offensive from 
that point without delay, and reap the full benefit of the 
terrible defeat we had already inflicted upon Hood's army. 
General Schofield's reply vv^as : " Tell General Cox he has 
won a glorious victory, and I have no doubt we could do as 
he suggests in the morning. But my orders from General 
Thomas are imperative, and we must move back to Nash- 
ville as soon as possible." Orders were then given to leave 
a strong skirmish line in the works in charge of Major 
Dow, Cox's inspector, and withdraw the troops to the other 
side of the river. About the time the movement was 
started, a house was set on fire in the town, the light of 
which would expose our withdrawal, and the fire had to be 
extinguished before we actually started. In due time, 
though, everything, including troops, trains, wounded, and 
prisoners, also the skirmish line, were safely crossed. The 
planks were removed from the bridges, and we again took 
up our retreat for Nashville. 

A few years after the war it was my pleasure to ride in 
the cars from Columbus, Ohio, to Baltimore in company 
with General S. D. Lee, one of Hood's corps commanders 
in theTennessee campaign. After introducing ourselves, 
he being from Mississippi and I from Ohio, our conver- 
sation soon drifted into war matters, and when he found 
that I had a pretty fair idea of the battle-field of Franklin 
we were warm friends, and in a friendly way we fought 
over that battle all the way to Baltimore. He told me what 
shape they were in that night. At twelve o'clock they 
were not aware of our retreat, and Hood had called a 
council of war. He first asked Stewart what he had to 



— 25 — 

report. That General replied^that his army was all cut to 
pieces ; that there was no organization left except with the 
artillery ; that his losses had been very heavy ; and that he 
would not be able to make an active move in the morning. 
Cheatham was then called upon, and his report was even 
more despondent and gloomy. Then, looking hercely at 
Lee, Hood said: "Are you, too, going back on me.^" 
He replied: "General, two of my divisions are badly 
cut up ; but I have one division lelt that has not been 
engaged, and, if you say so, in the morning I will take 
them and charge with the bayonet." Hood saw, ot course^ 
that there was no use in attempting offensive operations 
again, but decided right there, at daylight they would 
mass their artillery and hurl shot and shell at our works 
and the town during the entire day, and make as bold a 
show as possible, preparatory to getting out of the bad 
situation where his foolhardy mtrepidity had led him. 

There is no doubt that when in the early morning he dis- 
covered that our troops were withdrawn, there never lived 
a man more surprised. In fact, instead of closely pursuing, 
he remained there, not knowing what to do, and it was not 
until the 3d of December that he moved up to Nashville and 
established his line. Even this timid movement was doubt- 
less only intended to cover his retreat, to give him a chance 
to fix up the railroads and bridges, so as to get his trans- 
portation safely back across Duck River. How well he 
succeeded in this, we learned from the fact that not even a 
camp kettle was captured on the road from Nashville to 
Franklin after we passed through their camps south of the 
town. 

After so many facts have been learned, there is no doubt 
but that General Cox was right when he first advised against 
the retreat from Franklin. Although the result at Nashville 
has been considered glorious, still, if the " Old Rock of 
Chickamauga" could for once have been lurned, and sent 
the 9,000 of Smith's command who were at Nashville on the 
30th of November by forced march to Franklin, and the 



— 26 — 

balance with Steedman's troops as soon as they could be 
forwarded, the result at Franklin would have been far more 
glorious. We would have had the enemy in the open field 
instead of behind intrenchments, and we would have found 
them that morning in the most thoroughly demoralized state 
that ever army was in. We would, to say the least, have 
saved the losses of the first day of the battle of Nashville, 
and would have captured very much more in the way of 
prisoners, artillery, and trains. 

It would seem proper, perhaps, to round up this story of 
the retreat, by giving some account of what happened sub- 
sequently at Nashville. But my paper has already been 
drawn out too long, and as our first two weeks' besiege- 
ment was of a very monotonous character, beleagured by an 
army that we knew was crippled to death, almost, by defeat, 
it would hardly be interesting to you to hear a description 
of our chafing and uneasiness — particularly the last week, 
which would appear as slipshod to you as it did to us. 

Nothing occurred until the last two days of our stay at 
Nashville, the 15th and i6th of December. The first day's 
manoeuvers were confined to skirmishing and crowding back 
the advanced lines to their main works, which was success- 
fully accomplished with very slight losses. General tScho- 
field with his whip-lash corps, the 23d (this name was given 
us on the Atlanta campaign because we were always crack- 
ing around the flanks), which had been in reserve the morn- 
ing of the first day, was instructed to move to the extreme 
right flank and connect with the right of Smith's command. 
We took the fields near the Harden Pike, and marched 
around by the Hillsborough Pike. Couch's Division of the 
23d Corps drove the enemy from their advanced works late 
in the afternoon of the 15th, and took up position about one 
half mile in front of Smith. Cox's Division formed on the 
right and went into position before dusk right under Hood's 
fortifications on Shy's Hill. There a strong line of earth- 
works was thrown up at the edge of the corn field near the 
wood-skirted hills. Our skirmishers and the enemy's were 



— 27 — 

within one iiundred yards of each other, shielding them- 
selves behind trees. Our artillery was placed where we 
could plant every shell right in their embrasures. 

The morning of the i6th was confined mostly to artillery 
and skirmish firing. About three o'clock in the afternoon, 
Wood pushed the 4th Corps forward, supported by Steed- 
man on the left, to trj^ the strength of the enemy's line ; but 
was repulsed with great loss, Colonel Post, a brigade com- 
mander, being wounded. After noon, General Wilson's 
cavalry, supported by Stiles' Brigade of Cox's Division, 
moved around further on Hood's left flank ; this movement 
was made easier by reason of the absence of Forrest's cav- 
alry at Murfreesboro. This mistake of Hood's in allow- 
ing such a useful branch as the cavalry had been to him, to 
be absent on this day, contributed more to his easy defeat 
than any other single cause. It enabled Wilson to dismount 
his men and crowd way round in the rear of Chalmers, with 
Govan's Brigade in support. Here with their repeating 
rifles they kept up the liveliest firing ever heard of, which 
made Hood extremely anxious, not knowing but one-hali 
our army was in his rear. In the meantime. General Mc- 
Arthur had discovered that Bate's position had been weak- 
ened in looking after the flank, and reported to Thomas 
that an attack on Shy's Hill would probably meet with suc- 
cess. Thomas fell in with the suggestion, and rode over 
with his staff' to where Generals Schofield and Cox had 
made their headquarters. From this point every move 
could be seen. McArthur placed McMillan's Brigade in 
position for assault. The artillery Irom all our adjacent 
batteries opened with an intense fire on the hill, and our skir- 
mish lines were pushed to the utmost. McMfllan's double 
line went up the hill as steady as troops in review. Occa- 
sionally a rebel gun could be depressed enough to make a 
gap in the line, but it would immediately close up and press 
on. This was about four o'clock. General Thomas, the 
grand old hero, had dismounted from his horse and stood 
in the pourmg rain watching the movement closely with his 



— 28 — 

field glass. Steadily forward moved the lines ; gradually 
they approached the crest of the hill. All this time Wilson 
was playing the devil's tattoo in their rear ; now they were 
up to the works ; only for a moment they hesitated and ex- 
changed fire face to face with Shy's command, and then the 
line broke. Thomas quietly turned to Schofield, and said, 
"General, will you please advance your whole line?" The 
order was repeated to Cox, and the staff' officers scattered 
to the different brigades. But the orders were not given to 
the troops ; they had been watching the movement, too, and 
had followed it without orders. From this point the whole 
of Hood's arm}' crumbled right and left. Their back-bone 
had been broken two weeks before at Franklin. There was 
no fight left in them. Pell-mell they went over the Granny 
White Pike to the Franklin Pike, flying as if old What's- 
his-name was after them. Artillerj^ stuck in the mud, cart- 
ridges, guns, and accoutrements of every description scat- 
tered over the ground, as though they never expected to 
have any use for them again ; but as if their only thoughts 
were to put as much distance as possible between themselves 
and the dreadful Yankees. Oh, it was a glorious picnic to 
rush them from one hill to another, shouting all the way. 
Little heed was taken of time and approaching darkness. 
One officer was so carried away with the enthusiasm that he 
became separated from the staff', and pushed over to the 4th 
Corps, who were in pursuit, and then on with the cavalry, so 
that he did not find his way back to headquarters until three 
o'clock the next morning, and there found the General and 
staff' stretched out in the mud, each one having two fence 
rails for a bed, no fire, and a drenching rain to cool off' the 
ardor of the previous day. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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